Cocke County, Tennessee
| Cocke County, Tennessee | |
|---|---|
Cocke County Courthouse in Newport
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 Location in the U.S. state of Tennessee |
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 Tennessee's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | October 9, 1797 |
| Named for | William Cocke |
| Seat | Newport |
| Largest city | Newport |
| Area | |
| • Total | 443 sq mi (1,147 km2) |
| • Land | 435 sq mi (1,127 km2) |
| • Water | 8.6 sq mi (22 km2), 1.9% |
| Population (est.) | |
| • (2015) | 35,162 |
| • Density | 82/sq mi (32/km²) |
| Congressional district | 1st |
| Time zone | Eastern: UTC-5/-4 |
| Website | cockecounty |
Cocke County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 35,662. Its county seat is Newport.
Cocke County comprises the Newport, TN Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the Knoxville-Morristown-Sevierville, TN Combined Statistical Area.
Before the arrival of European settlers, the area that is now Cocke County probably was inhabited by Cherokees. The first recorded European settlement in the county was in 1783 when land near the fork of the French Broad and the Pigeon Rivers was cleared and cultivated. The earliest European settlers were primarily Scots-Irish, Dutch, and Germans who came to the area over the mountains from the Carolinas or through Virginia from Pennsylvania and other northern states.
The county was established by an Act of the Tennessee General Assembly on October 9, 1797, from a part of Jefferson County, Tennessee. It was named for William Cocke, one of the state's first United States Senators.
Like many East Tennessee counties, Cocke County was largely pro-Union on the eve of the Civil War. In Tennessee's Ordinance of Secession referendum on June 8, 1861, the county's residents voted 1,185 to 518 against secession.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 443 square miles (1,150 km2), of which 435 square miles (1,130 km2) is land and 8.6 square miles (22 km2) (1.9%) is water. The southern part of the county is located within the Great Smoky Mountains, and is protected by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The northern part of the county is situated within the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians. The county's highest point is Old Black, which rises to 6,370 feet (1,940 m) in the Smokies along the county's border with North Carolina. English Mountain, a large ridge that peaks at 3,629 feet (1,106 m), dominates the northwestern part of the county.
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